To determine if you have an AGP or PCI Express video card -- otherwise known as PCI-E -- you must physically remove the video card from your computer. There is no software that can determine whether a particular video card uses the AGP or PCI-E bus on the motherboard it sits in. Both cards provide graphics acceleration, although AGP has much less bandwidth and clock speed than PCI-E.
Instructions
1. Remove the plug from the back of your computer after turning it off. Disconnect the rest of your cables and set the computer on a table with the side opposite of the peripheral connectors -- USB, network and monitor, for example -- on the back facing up.
2. Remove the screws on the rear edge of the side that now faces up. Pull the side cover back and lift it up to expose the computer's interior.
3. Locate your graphics card on the computer. It sits at the inner end where you plug your monitor. Remove the screw holding the graphics card to the computer's casing.
4. Lift the graphics card out of the motherboard slightly. Use the metal faceplate on the card for leverage.
5. Look closely at the gold-colored contact pins on the bottom of the graphics card. If they alternate in direction, you have an AGP card. If the pins look flat and don't seem to have any particular facing direction, you have a PCI-E card. If you have difficulty understanding the distinction, count how many groups of pins you have on the card: two groups indicate you have a PCI-E card; three groups indicate you have an AGP card.
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